It = An object? A situation? This People's opinion on someone? On something?

Black and white = Actualy colors? Or opinions (or whatever) that are strongly different? This

They = Two persons? Up to five? Ten? Between this Fifty? and this, though fewer were directly involved, and there's far more (irrelevant number, mixed gender humans, T to A, hopefully not C) that were completely uninvolved that found out about it. 100? 1000? 100000? 1000000? Even more?

They = Members of one family? Chiefly this A group of friends? One friend directly involved A school class? A club? A town? Other members of the community became involved later, related to friend A city? A state? A country? A whole continent? And an indeterminate number of people in an indeterminate (for me) number of places found out after it was over. The number is irrelevant.

Or several thereof? See above

They should have expected the unexpected - Because the unexpected actually happened? YesAnd it affected "them" negatively? YesAnd since they hadn't expected it, they hadn't prepared for it? Yes.

Or was the unexpected something positive and "they" failed to benefit from it because they hadn't considered it to happen? Not positive in the least, I'm afraid. It's a very sad story.

Or was the unexpected a person's trait Yes, very relevant and that person was mistakenly treated him badly because "they" misjudged him? Or did they treat the person too well? This

One of the persons having a mental disorder? Or some sort of disability? Or illness? And no-one had thought that that person had that problem and it broke out in a way? Or, the other way round, people thought that something was wrong with the person and treated him/her accordingly although, in fact said person was perfectly alright?

Does any of the person lead some sort of a secret life? Or was there something sinister going on that they tried to hide?

Is a crime involved? Murder? Fraud? Some kind of a family drama? Yes to all but fraud

One of the persons having a mental disorder? Yes Or some sort of disability? Or illness? And no-one had thought that that person had that problem and it broke out in a way? This Or, the other way round, people thought that something was wrong with the person and treated him/her accordingly although, in fact said person was perfectly alright? Not this.

Does any of the person lead some sort of a secret life? For svv of secret life... Or was there something sinister going on that they tried to hide? Depending on what and who you mean by "something sinister" and "they"...yes.

IIRC, a couple of months ago, in Germany, a teen / young man, along with a friend of his, killed his parents so that they'd get all their money and belongings. Did something like that happen?

Or did a parent kill their children due to some kind of depression?

Or was it the friend who killed the family or (a) certain member(s) of it?

Is a gun rampage relevant? In a school?

Did the persons in the community get involved because they were grieving? Or were angry? Or were thought to be guilty of whatever happened? Or, in case the friend committed the murder, were they considered to be bad people just because they were related to him?

And the indeterminate number of people, did they find out via the media? Because it was reported on the news?

IIRC, a couple of months ago, in Germany, a teen / young man, along with a friend of his, killed his parents so that they'd get all their money and belongings. Did something like that happen? You're in the right forest, sort of. Someone killed a member of his family. But not his parents and not for those reasons.

Or did a parent kill their children due to some kind of depression? No.

Or was it the friend who killed the family or (a) certain member(s) of it? The friend confessed to killing the child, but...

Is a gun rampage relevant? In a school? No to both

Did the persons in the community get involved because they were grieving? Or were angry? Or were thought to be guilty of whatever happened? Or, in case the friend committed the murder, were they considered to be bad people just because they were related to him? The persons were the police force, to clear up any potential FA's.

And the indeterminate number of people, did they find out via the media? Yes. Because it was reported on the news? Since this is supposedly a true story, it may well have been, but it's not local to me and that's not how I saw it.

Killer: H? A? M? Sadly, HCM Victim: H? A? M? HCM Manner of death relevant? Yes Shooting? Stabbing? Strangulation? Bludgeoning? Suffocation? This is closest Drowning? Poison? Was there just one victim? Just one that I know of Or more than one?

Did this occur in the US? I think so Was the killer a teenager? A young child? Older than 7 but not a teenSame with the victim? 7 year old boyWas the victim a baby? Killed by shaking? No, not the Farmville story. He was suffocated

Was it an accident? Or did the killer do it intentionally? Was it the killer who had a mental disorder? Or the victim? Is the way the killer was punished relevant? Because he was a child and wasn't healthy?

Was it an accident? No Or did the killer do it intentionally? Yes Was it the killer who had a mental disorder? Yes Or the victim? Is the way the killer was punished relevant? It wasn't made clear; he's either incarcerated or institutionalized at the moment Because he was a child and wasn't healthy?

Soooo... Do we have to find out who "they" are? "They" pretty much encompasses everyone relevant, for various reasons. What "the unexpected" is? That a child could be a murderer. You're looking for the exact case, so if you're going to use Google or Wiki, email early $poylers.

Is the reason why the boy was killed relevant? YesOr other details about his murder? YesDo we have to find out what the killer's disorder was?Yes Is something else important that hasn't been mentioned so far? Yes.

Did the killer's family know about their son's disorder? Did the victim's family? They were the same family. And no, until the murder.

Not sure if I'm misunderstanding something... So, the killer and his victim are members of the same family? Brothers? Yes, indeed, they were brothers. Cousins?

And the friend who confessed to have committed the murder didn't do it? But somebody made him say that? The actual murderer? He didn't do it, but he didn't want the boy to get in trouble. To clarify, he was the father's friend.

Did the killer have a mental disease? A psychological disorder...is that the same thing? Not giving out the specifics, yet.A physical handicap? Was he jealous of his brother?I'm not sure jealous is the right word.

Did he think his brother was getting more attention than he was? Maybe, but he had a specific reason for killing him (not that we'd call it a good reason, because we wouldn't. He would.) That wasn't the immediate motive for the murder, anyway.

Is something about the brother relevant? A few things. Is the friend relevant in any further way? Further way such as...elaborate, please?

Did the brother steal a toy from the killer? While Jared did not exactly "steal" Shane's toy, it did indeed have to do with Shane's toy. Was the motive because of something the brother had done? Yes, Jared did something Shane did not like, and something which would probably anger any big brother...although hopefully, one would think, not to this extent. Some characteristic or quality of the brother? A perceived characteristic/quality? Shane perceived Jared as "a baby" and annoying in his habits, one of which was to cause the thing that was Shane's motive.

OK, referring to them as "the brother" and "the killer"/"he" and so on is getting dreary - may we call the killer Shane, the victim Jared, and the friend Phil? You may indeed.

Did Jared play with the toy for too long? Try to eat it? Break it?I doubt he tried to break it (or to be fair, he may have meant to) but in any case, he did break it, yes. This was the motive. Take it apart? Use it for other than its intended use?

Relevant what exactly the toy was? Yes A car? None of these, but car is closest Other wheeled toy? A stuffed animal? A yo-yo? Slinky?

So not a car, but not wheeled...was it radio-controlled? Did it require batteries? Was it a vehicle of some sort? This. It might POSSIBLY have had small wheels, but wheels are not what the toy would use to maneuver most generally.

So Shane killed Jared for breaking his airplane. What's left to discover? Something about Phil? Did Phil discover the body? Witness the murder? Did Shane confess to Phil? Or just tell Phil that he did it?

So Shane killed Jared for breaking his airplane. Yes What's left to discover? About the murder itself...How did he do it? How was it discovered?Something about Phil? Did Phil discover the body? No Witness the murder? No, he wasn't present until called to the scene Did Shane confess to Phil? Or just tell Phil that he did it? Neither

RECAP, with hints: In someplace in America, yet to be discovered, Shane, a young boy with a certain psychological disorder murdered his younger brother, Jared, for breaking his toy airplane. The murder weapon has yet to be brought up.

Detective Phil, an "uncle" to the boys as a close family friend, confesses to the murder, but he wasn't there when it happened and didn't hear about it from Shane. Phil is discovered to be lying and Shane is found out by someone else yet to be determined. After all this, the case becomes widely known by being televised through the media to an indeterminable number of people (though likely it was on the local news from the discovery of the body) Still much to be discovered here!

Is Shane's psychological disorder something that one is born with? Or is it something that's caused by some sort of experience, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder? Had Shane seen someone else suffocating someone before?

Did Shane strangle Jared with his bare hands?

Was it a psychologist who figured out that it was Shane? Another police officer?

You said he was suffocated, correct? Well, it worked better than 'strangled', I thought. He was forced to choke on something. Was he smothered? With a pillow? Cushion? Some other thing found inside a house? Something that was readily available to Shane at the time

Person who finds out that Shane did it: H? A? M? HAF, if memory serves A relative? A close relative? A teacher? Another family friend? None of these, though she presumably knows Detective Phil fairly well

Is Shane's psychological disorder something that one is born with? Or is it something that's caused by some sort of experience, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder? Presumably he was born with it. Had Shane seen someone else suffocating someone before? I do not know. Irrelevant.

Did Shane strangle Jared with his bare hands? No, he stuffed something down his throat. Sorry for the mislead.

Was it a psychologist who figured out that it was Shane? Another police officer? This

Is one of the boy's parents a police officer, too? The father may have been at one point, or else he just knew Detective Phil some other way. In any case, irrelevant.

Was an autopsy performed on Jared? After his body was located, I'm sure it wasAnd parts of the toy plane were found in his throat? Yes, they wereAnd that way, Shane could be identified as the killer?

Actually, that wasn't enough to identify him. I just realized you were all missing a major part of this puzzle. He was only identified because he confessed; there were four false suspects before him, including Detective Phil. I'll go ahead and let you know that their parents had been under suspicion, too, but Suspect 1 (a HAM) was someone who had been completely unrelated to the case (though it didn't seem that way at first).

RECAP the second, with new info, prompted by vital information being left out:

In someplace in America, yet to be discovered, Shane, a young boy with a certain psychological disorder murdered his younger brother, Jared, for breaking his toy airplane. The murder weapon has been discovered to be the pieces of the airplane, when Jared's body was discovered in the woods the next morning.

Suspect 1 was a known criminal, completely unrelated to this case but under suspicion for good reason. When brought in by Detective Phil, he was eventually found innocent. Shane and Jared's parents were then placed under suspicion, too, but then Detective Phil confessed, throwing their own confessions off.

Detective Phil, an "uncle" to the boys as a close family friend, confessed to the murder, but he wasn't there when it happened and didn't hear about it from Shane. Phil is discovered to be lying and Shane is found out by one of Detective Phil's coworkers, a policewoman.

After all this, the case becomes widely known by being televised through the media to an indeterminable number of people (though likely it was on the local news from the discovery of the body) Still much to be discovered here, such as: Why was Suspect 1 (we'll call him Dave, if you like), even suspected? What is Shane's disorder? How was Shane's disorder discovered and under what circumstances did he confess? Under what circumstances did I find out about all this? (Remember, though it was televised, it wasn't the news. Ah yes...the title is relevant for that, as is the opening statement)

Did Dave have any relation to the family? Has he been in touch with any of their members? With Jared? And people have seen them together? Or has Dave even been in their house? Or near their house? Did he live in the same town? Had he been suspected simply because he was the only criminal around? Was he a child abuser?

Was it Shane who took Jared's body to the woods? Was it their father? Their mother? Dave? Phil?

Does Shane's disorder have to do with uncontrolled aggression? With paranoia? Is hearing voices involved?

Did Dave have any relation to the family? Has he been in touch with any of their members? With Jared? And people have seen them together? Or has Dave even been in their house? Or near their house? Did he live in the same town? Had he been suspected simply because he was the only criminal around? Was he a child abuser? He was a known serial child molester. It *looked* like he'd been in their house, but...

Was it Shane who took Jared's body to the woods? Was it their father? Their mother? Dave? Phil? it was quite likely their father and possibly Phil helped.

Does Shane's disorder have to do with uncontrolled aggression? This is involved, I think...at least, unnatural aggression helped get him suspected by the policewoman (did we have a name for her?) when he was sitting with her With paranoia? Is hearing voices involved? Neither, I think.

Was Dave seen somewhere near the house? On the estate? Did he leave something there? Was something found that the police thought belonged to Dave but belonged to the family instead? Did the house show any sign of intrusion?

When Shane was with the policewoman (I don't think we have a name for her... We could call her Paula?) did he hit himself? Or any of the objects around them? Or Paula? Or someone else? Did he break something?

Did he shout? Or give answers in a rude manner? Did he threaten Paula or anyone else? Or use a lot of swear words? Did he say anything derogatory about Jared? Did he say that he killed him? That he deserved to die?

Was Dave seen somewhere near the house? On the estate? Did he leave something there? Was something found that the police thought belonged to Dave but belonged to the family instead? Did the house show any sign of intrusion? None of these, although Jared's room looked pretty messed up, like the rooms of other abducted kids. However...

When Shane was with the policewoman (I don't think we have a name for her... We could call her Paula?) did he hit himself? Or any of the objects around them? Or Paula? Or someone else? Did he break something? He hit a potato chip bag because it wouldn't open, but she noticed more than just the aggression

Did he shout? Or give answers in a rude manner? Did he threaten Paula or anyone else? Or use a lot of swear words? Did he say anything derogatory about Jared? I'm not sure whether derogatory is the correct word...it may be Did he say that he killed him? Yes That he deserved to die? Yes, because...and he also said other things

Did he describe what he did to Jared? Or what else he wanted to do to him? Did he say it very aggressively? Or very coldly? Or in a very detailed manner? Did he show no sign of regret? Did he say that everyone who breaks his things (or does something else that he doesn't like) deserves to die?

Did Shane say that he hated Jared? Well, whether he said it or not, he certainly meant it. I believe he said it... Did he call him all sorts of mean and nasty things? He referred to Jared as "a baby" and hated him for breaking his toys all the time.

Did he describe what he did to Jared? Or what else he wanted to do to him? Did he say it very aggressively? Or very coldly? Or in a very detailed manner? Did he show no sign of regret? Pretty much all of this, if I remember right. He was talking to Paula while his parents were being questioned, and once she found out it was him, she asked how he felt about it. He said offhandedly, "Like I would get in trouble." No remorse, no regret. Did he say that everyone who breaks his things (or does something else that he doesn't like) deserves to die? No, I don't think he said this. He may have been thinking it, but irrelevant.

By the way, the title and the first half of the puzzle statement are very relevant to figuring out where this came from, which is something you haven't figured out yet.

The relevant acronym - does it have 4 letters? Are any of those letters C? T? M? A? Yes, the only different letter is C. All of them are correct other than the C and in the right place. Four letters; no more, no less. It's (letter)MTA.

And if so, was Shane's way of thinking in some way compared to Dave's? Or that of another criminal? Of another person with Shane's disorder? You haven't suggested the right disorder for Shane yet! Shane's "way of thinking" was not compared to Dave's, exactly...Dave was framed for Shane's crime, until the police realized there were things 'wrong' with the setup that did not match the usual MO of Dave.

So "great" is closer? Is high intelligence relevant? No, no no...*headdesk* Quote: Balin: Is the normal acronym related to law? Crime? C = Criminal. Does "black and white" refer to bipolar disorder? It does not.

Did Shane have a common condition? A more severe case of it? Well, he's the first child I heard of with it other than, say, Tom Riddle/Voldemort, but I suppose it has to start somewhere

RECAP the third, as I'm going out for breakfast soon: In someplace in New Jersey, yet to be pinned down, Shane, a young boy with a certain psychological disorder murdered his younger brother, Jared, for breaking his toy airplane. The murder weapon has been discovered to be the pieces of the airplane, when Jared's body was discovered in the woods the next morning.

Suspect 1, Dave was a known serial child molester, completely unrelated to this case but under suspicion because the state of Jared's room resembled his abduction MO superficially. When brought in by Detective Phil, he was eventually found innocent. Shane and Jared's parents were then placed under suspicion, too, but then Detective Phil confessed, throwing their own confessions off.

Detective Phil, an "uncle" to the boys as a close family friend, confessed to the murder, but he wasn't there when it happened and didn't hear about it from Shane. Phil is discovered to be lying and Shane is found out by one of Detective Phil's coworkers, a policewoman we have called Paula. She suspected Shane after seeing his unexpected reactions to hearing about the death of his brother, and watching him mutilate a potato chip bag while his parents and Detective Phil confessed, then got his own remorseless confession.

After all this, the case becomes widely known by being televised through the media to an indeterminable number of people (though likely it was on the local news from the discovery of the body) Still much to be discovered here, such as: What is Shane's disorder? (Remember, though it was televised, it wasn't the news. Ah yes...the title is relevant for that, as is the opening statement. The title has been discovered to be Criminal Minds Think Alike, a pun on "GMTA" for Great Minds Think Alike. HINT: If "it's not all black and white"...what is it?)

So, Dave was suspected because some kids had been abused and killed in the area previously, and during that time, Dave had no credit card purchases or calls but he had contact with Jared's family due to being a salesman. Dave also has toys from his former victims that he collected as trophies. However, the way he had treated his actual victims was different from the way Jared's body was treated and he didn't know where Jared's body was dumped, either.

Shane's a sociopath. And you probably found out about the case by watching the episode ("A Shade of Gray" because the events there are the very same ones that you had us ask for ;-)

Anything else that's relevant? IIRC, the main questions have been covered now...

What Potato said. Also, Shane and Jared are Danny and Kyle Murphy, respectively. Well done everyone, especially Potato for the solve! Thanks! (Got a new Lateral Adventure up so I was thinking it was about time this puzzle got put to bed)